Good Samaritan Health and Wellspan Health to explore affiliation

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Lebanon County’s Good Samaritan Health System plans to explore an affiliation with the much larger Wellspan Health. The governing boards for both organizations have approved a Memorandum of Understanding, which outlines the goals of the potential affiliation.

The CEO’s of both organizations say the document represents an important step in the evaluation of an arrangement under which Good Samaritan Health System would become part of WellSpan Health’s non-profit system of care. Next steps include a period of formal due diligence, the development of a final agreement, and a regulatory review period, which should wrap up by the end of this year.

“When we started this process, the Good Samaritan Board of Trustees diligently focused on partnerships that would help Lebanon County residents continue to have access to high‐quality health care services right here in our Lebanon communities,” said Good Samaritian CEO Robert Longo. “After a careful search, we found that WellSpan Health offered the best match for our community mission, vision, and values.”
According to Wellspan Health CEO Kevin Mosser, “the American health care system continues to transform from one that primarily treats individuals when they are sick or injured to one that also manages the health of populations. In response, we are creating new and innovative ways to help our neighbors reach their health goals in life while preparing to care for an aging population and address a projected shortage of health professionals.

Other hospitals currently affiliated with Wellspan include Gettysburg Hospital, in Adams County and Ephrata Community Hospital, became part of Wellspan Health last October.

Established in 1889, Good Samaritan Hospital, is a fully accredited 172 bed acute care facility and the only community hospital in Lebanon County.

Wellspan Health is comprised of more than 660 providers, a home care organization, four hospitals, more than 11,000 employees, and 93 patient care locations.